Dark Secrets
by FusRoBeth
Summary: A young alchemist, Alese, has been alone for a while now. Her parents left when she was 15 with no explanation. She's tired of her uneventful life. When Loy, a young man who ran away from his home in Solitude, wanders into her life. They both learn each others darkest secrets, but they both want answers... Will they find the answers they're looking for? Or will this end badly?
1. Chapter 1

_**This is my first fan fiction so be nice c:**_

Adventuring can be amazing but dangerous, discovering new places, but being forever in danger.

Plucking a few mountain flowers from the soil, Alese sighed and wiped her forehead. Her hands were hot and tired, and covered in dirt. After she'd harvested a few more ingredients from her garden she proceeded to trail back to her small run down house in the middle of nowhere. She unlocked the door, and sat down next to the fire place, which was obviously not lit. Meeko, a dog her father had found on his travels, was curled up tightly on his mat by the fireplace. Her house was quaint; it had one room upstairs and a fairly chilly cellar. Alese kept all her ingredients, books and most of her food down in the cellar. Upstairs in the main room, she kept a few items for cooking, her beloved bow and arrows, two beds, a small crooked table and a chest. The chest had been her mother's; she'd only opened it once since they left.

When she felt like it, Alese would go hunting; bring back some venison or rabbit to eat. It was the only thing she knew how to do properly. Her mother was an alchemist and her father a hunter. Her father had brought her a bow when she was younger, he always said he'd killed monsters to get it. When she was little she believed him. Her aim was always perfect. If she wanted to hit the heart, she hit it. She'd been around an archer for most of her uneventful life, so she knew all the tricks.

Once her hands were warmed, she stuck a huge chunk of venison onto the spit above the fire, then sprinkled a few pinches of salt over the meat. It was her last chunk of venison. While her meal was cooking, she took her ingredients that she'd collected and started to make a few damage health potions. She shoved the freshly made potions into her already full cupboard and shuffled upstairs to check on her food. The meat was a red/brown color, just right for her tastes.

After 4 slices of delicious venison. Meeko looked up at her, his big brown eyes shone in the candlelight.

"Alright Meeko, here you go." Smiling down at him, she set the remaining venison on the floor and stroked his dirty fur. She'd have to wash him again soon, even though he hated it, poor thing.

She yanked her brunette hair into a knot at the back of her head, and then retired to bed. For a few minutes she lay there staring at the ceiling. She thought of her parents, how they'd left with no explanation. Tears pricked her eyes; did they care about her at all? She'd always promised herself that one day she'd go on adventures in search of her parents, but that was unlikely.


	2. Chapter 2

She was awoken by Meeko whining to be let out, like every god damn morning. Her eyes felt like paper cuts, but she'd gotten used to waking up incredibly early. That way she could get more stuff done in one day. She washed and got dressed. Then she continued to eat a slice of stale bread, tomatoes and apples for her breakfast, it was bland, simple food, but she'd be buying more soon. Looking at the cooking spit, she noticed a few bit of meat left on it. She fed Meeko the leftover meat and patted his head, he chomped on his breakfast gratefully. She could feel the fresh summer breeze through the cracks in her house. She shuffled down to the cellar to check how much she had left to eat. A dozen carrots, two apples, and some stale bread. She needed to restock today.

"I think it's time for another run into town, right Meeko?" She said sullenly. Meeko flicked his ears, which meant that he acknowledged her, but was too lazy to do anything else.

Alese knew that Mralki, who owned the Inn in Rorikstead, was having a tough time receiving supplies. She didn't want to take more food from him, even if she was paying. He had to keep his business going, and an inn with no food, wouldn't be a very good thing. Falkreath was the closest city to where she lived, only a few miles away. It'd take about 3 hours to get there and back, on horseback of course. She grabbed a few potions to sell while she was there; she stuffed them into her knapsack. As soon as she stepped out of the door, she could feel the hot summer sun beat down on her skin. She managed to rip bits off the bread and throw them to the chickens, and give the remaining apples to Grace, her cow. Shadow, her black stallion was busy munching on dry hay when she whistled to him. His head shot up and he gleefully galloped over to her.

"There boy, look what I have for you." She produced a few carrots, Alese stroked his mane while he ate. He reminded him of her parents; after all, it was their horse. After saddling him up, she locked the door to her house, and climbed onto Shadow's back. A quick flick on the reins and he started to trot calmly. The journey was uneventful, which was unsurprising. She noticed a few farmers wandering the roads, more than usual, she thought.

She was wearing a black cowl which covered most of her face, she didn't like to be looked at. The only feature you could see was her eyes. She only got along with a few people, but if someone needed help, she would give it to them. Her first task of the day was to stop off at Zaria's, who owned an alchemy store and always paid extra gold for a good potion. Entering the store, she smelt a familiar scent of mountain flowers; Zaria always liked to keep everything smelling fresh.

"Hello again." Zaria, with her arms rested on the counter.

"I've got some potions to sell, Zaria" Alese exclaimed. Zaria's face lit up, and she gestured for her to come closer to the counter.

After about 10 minutes of bargaining for prices, they agreed on 120 gold for the lot. Less than usual, but it'd do for now. Now, she headed over to the Dead Man's Drink. Creepy as it sounded, they were always friendly to her. Valga was busy hanging up garlic braids, Delacourt was playing his Lute in the corner, it wasn't as busy as usual.

"Oh Alese, I've been saving something for you!" Valga had noticed her, and was beckoning her to the counter. She produced a Sweetroll, the icing was white as snow, and it looked delicious.

"I saved the last one, just in case" Valga winked playfully at her.

"Oh wow, thank you! Got any gossip?" Alese smiled.

"A young man passed through here yesterday, he was around these parts hunting. He told tales of bandits and monsters, he had been everywhere in Skyrim. Solitude, Winterhold, Riften, can you believe that?" Valga laughed to herself.

"If only I could do that." She said politely, but she was upset inside. She was bored of doing the same old thing every day.

After spending a good amount of gold on potatoes, bread, leeks, garlic, salt and other bland vegetables. She bought a few logs of firewood from the mill, her axe had broken for a while now, and she didn't have the money to buy a new one yet. Shadow started getting restless while she was loading the food and firewood on his back, some apples fell out of her knapsack, and Shadow dropped his head and happily ate the juicy fruit.

Alese climbed onto Shadow and trotted off home. On the way back she passed by a tipped cart, the horse must have run off but she could see blood, a lot of it.


	3. Chapter 3

_**I doubt many people are still reading, but whatever. I'm planning on posting new chapters at least 3 times a week. **_

While Shadow trotted home casually, Alese thought of the cart. Whoever was travelling in there must be dead by now. Skyrim was dangerous these days, another reason not to go adventuring. As soon as she arrived home, she gathered her bow and arrows and then set off into the woods before dark. She was always cautious in the woods, forever raising her bow at the slightest noise, bandits, and trolls; could be lurking around every corner. Her movement made the leaves beneath her feet crunch; the warm summer breeze blew wisps of her brunette hair into her eyes. Even though she could feel beads of sweat on her forehead, and her fingers were almost too sweaty to hold her bow, she loved being away from home. It was nice to be able to get away from all the memories of her parents.

An Elk slowly walked past her, it was quite far away. However Alese new she could hit and kill it in one shot . It'd be enough to keep her and Meeko going for a while. She drew her bow, and looked down the arrow, and pointed it at the Elks heart. The arrow sliced clean through the elks heart, it freaked out for a few seconds then lay down on the floor twitching. Just as she hurried over to inspect the elk, she heard one of her rabbit snares activate. Meeko was eating tonight.

Grabbing some rope from her knapsack, and tying it around the elk. The rope started to cause a lot of friction on her hands when she attempted to haul it home. Despite her multiple attempts, the elk would only move a few inches. Slumping against a tree, she tried to come up with some brilliant idea to move it, with no luck. She heard rustling in the trees nearby, probably wolves or a bear, so she drew her bow once more. Alese shot an arrow at a tree to try and scare the animal, then rushed over to the elk and quickly tried to pull it once more.

"Need some help?" A young man appeared from the tree's, he was holding a shield and sword. Alese held her bow up to him, with an arrow drawn.

"I won't hurt you, see...there I've put my weapons down" He smiled at her, as if he was mocking her. He glanced over to the dead animal, walking over to it, he proceeded to take the rope off the animal. He then explained how the rope was wrapped around the wrong part of the elk, making it more difficult to pull.

"So, where are we dragging this to? Hunters Rest?" He slung the rope over his shoulder, and flashed Alese a gorgeous smile. She thought her heart would melt.

"Uh, no. My farm isn't far from here. This way." Alese grabbed hold of the other end of the rope and helped the man pull. They headed about half a mile north. Niether of them said a word on the way there. By the time they arrived it was dark; the man hung the elk over his strong bulky shoulders and carried it to the cellar. Alese had some gold ready for him when he came back up. She handed it to him.

"Here, it's all I have right now."

"I'm not going to take your money, I was just helping out." He laughed, but Alese felt guilty, this man had helped her carry an elk almost a mile uphill.

"If you won't accept my money, let me make you a meal, to say thanks?" She said hopefully.

"It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice" There was something about his smile that made her warm inside. He then removed his helmet and ginger strands of hair burst out.

She begun by dicing carrots, onions, cabbage, tomato and crushing garlic. She threw it all into the cooking pot, and then she hastily went down to the cellar, and chopped a hunk of venison meat from the elk. Meeko was in the cellar waiting for his supper, he barked and jumped up.

"Okay boy, I've got you some rabbit" Meeko's eyes lit up.

While skinning the rabbit, she heard heavy footsteps approaching the cellar. A pot fell from the ceiling and clashed on the stone floor.

"Damn, sorry, I didn't mean to, uh. I'm Loy, and you are?" He sounded embarrassed and nervous, she found it cute.

"Alese, nice to meet you." He plunked himself down on a stool and stroked Meeko.

When Alese had finished preparing the meat, she whistled for Meeko, and he followed. So did Loy. After supper, she offered for Loy to rest for the night in her spare bed, it was late and she knew it'd be treacherous to send him on his way now. Even though she didn't know him, but deep inside her she felt that she could trust him. Besides, he looked like he'd travelled a lot, she wanted to know more about his travels.

"Are you sure? I can go over to the Hunters Rest, or maybe Falkreath, it's no problem"

"No, stay here and get a good night's rest. You deserve it." They exchanged smiles and both went to bed, Alese quickly looked at him when he had his eyes shut, his features were almost perfect. His red hair fell below his chin, and a few freckles stood out on his cheeks.

Loy was woken by something falling from his bed, he leaned over to see what it was. It looked like some sort of journal. He left it there, it wasn't right to invade Alese's privacy like that…


	4. Chapter 4

As usual, she awoke early. For a short moment she forgot about Loy spread out on the spare bed, walked straight past him and kicked her journal across the hard wooden floor. Meeko yelped as it bashed against his side. Her eyes swiveled over to Loy, he didn't stir at all, his hair was flopped over his eyes. _Had he read it? _If he had he would have discovered her darkest secrets, he would know everything about her. Shaking her head, she bent down to stroke Meeko.

"Sorry, old boy" she whispered,

Meeko flicked his ears. Smiling at his enthusiasm, she shoved her boots on, and then headed to the cellar. Grabbing a candle which had not yet burnt out, she trotted down the stairs and placed the candle next to the food cabinet. Her eyes wandered the cabinet, she'd bought a lot of food yesterday. Cutting two slices of fresh bread, and two slices of cheese, and then putting a slice of bread and a slice of cheese on each plate. Everything Alese ate was simple. She couldn't afford sweets or to travel to new cities and try new things.

As she walked up the stairs, the wood beneath her creaked. Concerned that she might wake Loy, she basically ran up the stairs. Holding two plates, she set one down on the side table next to Loy. For a few minutes she sat on her bed and imagined what it'd be like to travel Skyrim, to join the companions, the thieves guild, maybe even the dark brotherhood. Her life would be so much more exciting; however, she had no experience in the real world. She had no idea the dangers lurking around every corner. She soon snapped out of it when Loy sat up, stretched and yawned.

"Good morning, did you have a nice sleep?" Alese's pink lips curved into a smile. Her stomach felt weird, like butterflies fluttering around.

"Yeah, even better seeing a beautiful woman when I wake up. Is this for me?" He chuckled and then gestured to the plate of bread and cheese. Alese could feel her blood rushing to her cheeks, her pale skin flashed red, it felt as if her stomach had just been twisted into a tiny knot. Quickly turning towards the fire, she nodded.

"Mhm, sorry it's not much" she replied in a quiet voice. Loy could hear the embarrassment in her voice.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean it, sometimes I say things without thinking. Well, I did mean the part about you being beautiful, but it was out of order…" Realizing he was babbling. He cursed at himself and looked down at his plate. Ripping a few chunks of bread off, he ate his food slowly. While he ate, his mind played with the thought of Alese and him being good friends, maybe even more, but he soon realized that they didn't even know each other. When he was finished, he set the plate back down onto the table and stood up cautiously.

"Uh, what are your plans for the day?" He hesitated, knowing that he'd made a complete fool of himself.

"I feel like going fishing, and then I suppose I'll collect some ingredients." She wasn't as humiliated now, but her heart was still beating faster than usual.

"Need any help?" He asked shyly. He really hoped she'd say yes.

"Yeah! It'd be nice to have someone to talk to while I'm waiting for a bite." Loy's face lit up, he really wanted to get to know her, and so did she.

As she put some bait in her knapsack. Her mind wondered back to her journal, all of her memories, all of her secrets, all of hopes and dreams were in there. She hoped to god he hadn't read it. She made Loy wait outside while she got dressed; her simple armor was spread out over a chest. Hide armor wasn't exactly the best, but it was all she needed. Her boots were one size too big but she didn't mind anymore, and her dagger was becoming blunt, maybe she could ask Loy to sharpen it.

When Alese stepped outside, she felt small drops of rain splash onto her skin; it was very refreshing after weeks of no rain whatsoever. Loy was tending to Shadow, brushing her mane with his fingers. She walked over to Grace and threw her some vegetables. Her eyes kept glancing over to him, he had a cute face, but a very masculine body. Her feelings were all over the place, she was attracted to him, but she couldn't get close to him…so why was he still here?

"She's a beauty, what's his name?" Loy shouted, still paying most of his attention to the horse.

"Shadow. He was my parents." Her voice trailed off when the word 'parents' came out of her mouth. She hadn't said anything about them since they left, until now.

"I'd always help around the stables when I was a little lad, anything to get away from home. Where are they, travelling?"

"I don't know, they left. When I was 15." She looked down at her worn out boots.

"Oh, I'm sorry? If it makes a difference my dad's a complete psycho." He nervously laughed.

"Yeah…" She had nothing else to say.

Alese proceeded to lock the door, and then started walking into the forest. Loy jogged after her, hoping that he hadn't upset her. It was hard to tell, she was very mysterious to him. Her eyes were beautiful, they were a deep blue, but he could tell she had a dark past, surprisingly he didn't mind. His mind wandered back to what he'd said to her this morning. _I don't usually act like that, what's wrong with me?_

When he caught up, Alese gave him a reassuring smile.

"Here, let me carry that." He nodded towards the fishing rod. He was trying his very best to impress her, trying to be a gentleman. She was flattered, so she handed it over to him.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey guys, I'd appreciate it if you took the time to write a review? Maybe some advice? You don't have to, but it'd help. I'm still a noob to this stuff.**_

"Here, let me carry that." He nodded towards the fishing rod. He was trying his very best to impress her, trying to be a gentleman. She was flattered, so she handed it over to him.

It was a twenty minute walk to the lake; neither of them knew what to say. The silence lasted for about 10 minutes, but if felt like a lifetime. For a while, Loy was plucking up the courage to ask her about herself, it took a while but he eventually spoke.

"How long have you lived here?" His voiced made her jump; she was wrapped up in her own thoughts.

"Since I was a child, before that my family lived in Windhelm." Strangely, she felt comfortable talking to him about it. She didn't know why, but the words kept rolling off her tongue.

"We moved here when I was 4, I liked it better at first, the weather was better." She gave a quiet laugh.

"Did they move because of the rebellion?" He sounded genuinely interested, this pleased her.

"They supported the rebellion, but they hated violence. I guess they moved because they didn't want me to grow up in a violent town." This was true; her parents always said they'd moved because there were bad people in the cities.

"I left home when I was 16, haven't been back since…" Loy's thoughts trailed back to his home, the great big house in Solitude, his kind and gentle mother, and his evil father.

Alese sensed that it was a difficult topic for him to talk about so she changed the subject almost instantly.

"What have you been doing since then?"

"Travelling, meeting new people, I was actually visiting an old friend here. Then I was going to Riften, maybe join a certain guild." He glanced at her, just to see her reaction.

"The Thieves Guild? Oh wow!" She sparked up almost immediately, she'd always wanted to join something like that, underneath her sweet, kind act, was someone who liked thrills and adventure.

"Yeah! You've heard of them?"

"Who hasn't? My mother told me stories of the guild, it's always been my dream to see what it was like but I wouldn't know where to start" Her thoughts trailed off again, she wondered what it'd be like to sneak around, and be feared by most people.

"You could come with me, you know?" He didn't mean to say it, it just came out.

"Oh…I don't think you'd want me to come with you, I'd just fuck everything up." She wanted to, but she'd most likely ruin it for him.

Loy's heart dropped, he wanted to travel with her, to go to new places, get to know her more. He'd been with girls before, quite a lot of them before he left home. He'd been attracted to them, and he liked them, but Alese was different. Every time she smiled, he could feel his cheeks turn red and his heart skip a beat.

"I'll let you think about it" She could sense that he was disappointed, but she had responsibilities, she had Shadow and Meeko. Grace and the chickens. She couldn't just leave with no one to look after them. Also, she'd lived in the woods most of her life; it'd be strange to leave.

When they reached the lake, they found a cluster of smooth rocks to sit on while they waited. Loy took some bait from Alese and attached it to the hook. Casting the line, he almost lost his balance and fell in the water, but Alese caught him by the arm and pulled him back to safety. When they touched it felt as if everything around them stopped, Alese gasped and let go of his arm. Loy was taken aback by what just happened. He wanted to ask if she felt it too but she said something first.

"I think I should go look for ingredients, I need to make potions soon for money" She didn't meet his eyes once; skipping over the rock she reached land once again. Loy let out a deep sigh, even if he didn't know her very well, he wanted her. He'd do anything for that girl, she was different to him. She was gone for an hour or so, in the time she was gone, Loy had caught seven salmon. He was getting bored, and most of all worried. Standing up, he searched for her.

"Hi again" She was on an overhanging cliff not too far away from him, he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw her.

"What the hell are you doing?" He smiled; she was sitting casually, right on the edge.

"I need to get hanging moss, right there" He followed her finger to a few strings of green, almost fluffy moss, about a meter below her. It was pretty high up; she had a better chance of reaching it than he did.

"Well, have fun." He was still pretty annoyed at her from ruining his moment with her before.

He turned back around and pulled another salmon out of the lake. He hoped he'd get to stay for supper, he loved salmon. He blew his hair up away from his eyes, and continued waiting.

Alese was hanging way over the cliff, her hand was so close to the moss, but she couldn't quite reach it. If she moved any further she was sure she'd fall. Her arm was stretched out fully; she needed this stuff so bad. Suddenly, the rock beneath her arm which was keeping her steady gave way, her hand frantically searched for something to hold onto but it was too late. Her body was slipping off the cliff, she was helpless. There was nothing to hang onto; it was a good 20ft fall. All of the air was knocked out of her when her chest hit a rock on the way down. She hit a lot of sharp rocks while falling; the worst was the last one. It sliced through the flesh on her thigh like butter. Opening her mouth, she screamed in fear, but that scream was soon stopped by water rushing into her mouth, her lungs…Her vision was blurry, despite the hot day the water was freezing cold. She struggled to resurface, but she was getting weaker thanks to the lack of oxygen. This was it; she was going to die because of some fucking moss. Her eyes started to close and just before she passed out. She felt strong hands around her arms…


	6. Chapter 6

_**This chapter is a little short and badly written.**_

Alese was back in her house; her parents by her side, her mother and her father were standing over her smiling. She tried to move, but she felt frozen and weak. Her parents remained silent; there was something different about them. They weren't how she remembered. Their eyes, there was something wrong with their eyes…

They changed their expression, to a sad and worried look. Her father picked up two knapsacks, they both looked pretty full. They both walked over to the door, and started to unlock it. Alese wanted to cry out to them and tell them to stay but no sound would come out. She was helpless; tears were running down her cheeks.

"Alese!" She was shaking, or being shook. Her eyes snapped open to see Loy kneeling next to her, she was in her house, but her parents weren't there. Her thigh sang with pain, her hand lifted and went to lift the bandage, but Loy's hand stopped her.

"You've lost a lot of blood, I don't know if you even remember, but you've been in and out of consciousness for a week now" She looked into his eyes, he'd been crying. She noticed a lot of bloody rags in the corner of the room.

"You looked after me?" She was surprised, but she also felt guilt…he was so excited to go to Riften, and she ruined it. She could see the tears in his eyes.

"I couldn't just leave you, you almost died. There was so much blood, I couldn't make it stop, you kept passing out and I panicked." He was talking so fast, words kept shooting out of his mouth. "Also, I've been thinking about it a lot, I don't think I like the idea of being hated by everyone in Skyrim" She knew that he was referring to the Guild, she didn't know why but she agreed with him. Thieves were hated, and if you were caught, bye bye freedom.

"So what are you going to do? Stay in Falkreath?" Loy sensed a hint of hope in her voice; he wanted to stay with her. The only real problem was that he didn't feel that he belonged in Falkreath. If only he could convince her to travel with him, even for a few weeks.

"I'm going to head over to Whiterun, see if there's any work." A sudden feeling of loneliness swept through Alese. She didn't want him to leave her; she wanted to go with him. However, deep inside she was scared, scared of letting him get to know her properly, scared of driving him away. Her mind was buzzing with possibilities; she was nineteen, and basically wasting her youth. What's the worst that could happen?

"Would it be okay if I tagged along?" She stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"I was waiting for you to ask." His red hair flopped over his forehead when he nodded at her.

"We'll leave in a few days?" She said beaming at him.

"Yeah. Do you have any armor, other than shitty hide armor?" Feeling slightly offended, she grumbled something about her mother's armor.

"Is it in here?" He tapped the chest at the end of the bed, giving him a slight nod. He opened it and took out her mother's scaled armor set.

"Not bad." He looked excited, for the rest of the day he was giddy. Even though Alese kept nodding off because the health potions he'd been giving her made her drowsy, her heart felt like it was racing.

The day before they were due to leave, she felt like a kid who couldn't get to sleep on Christmas Eve. Maybe this was her fate, to travel around. Her eyes were slowly closing, and she could feel herself slowly drifting away into a restless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

_**This is a really short chapter, I've been too busy playing games and playing keyboard. Anyway, thank you for all the advice and reviews, keep 'em coming! **_

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The smell of beef stew filled her nostrils; she felt a pang of hunger deep in her stomach. Inhaling deeply, she almost let out a groan. The food smelt so good, her head shot up. Loy was crouched over her cooking pot, stirring the stew. He spooned some of it into a wooden bowl, and set it aside on the table.

"That smells good." She sat upright, and smiled at him.

"For you, Madame" He bowed in front of her and tried to hold his laugh in, he handed the piping hot bowl of stew over. Alese giggled, and blew gently on the stew. She waited a good ten minutes before it had cooled down enough for her to eat. It still burnt her tongue when she wolfed it down. Lying back on her bed, she breathed deeply.

"You didn't tell me you could cook" She was genuinely surprised, he was more of the warrior type, not the secret Gourmet fan type.

"My mother was the Gourmets apprentice for a while" Loy's thoughts travelled back to the days where him and his mother spent hours cooking for the residents of the Blue Palace. Now and again, she'd let him nibble on an apple dumpling or some garlic bread. He longed for his mother to be alive again; she was always so kind and gentle. Even when his father wandered home drunk after drinking a fuck load of mead at The Winking Skeever, she was nice to him even after she'd been beaten to a bloody pulp.

"Oh wow!" Loy snapped out of his day dream, and nodded awkwardly. She glared at him, waiting for him to say something funny, like he usual did. Only silence followed; a long silence. Alese got out of bed, and placed her armor on her bed. Loy knew that he would have to wait outside; he solemnly walked out of the house. The air was humid, and the smell of pine needles hung heavily in the air. Loy breathed in the fresh air; he hadn't really been out much lately, mainly because he had to take care of Alese. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes when he was thinking of his mother, being out in the open cleared his head a lot. He'd never really had many dreams or ambitions. Everything that he wanted and needed was basically handed to him on a plate, growing up in a house with too many rooms, in the capital of Skyrim had its disadvantages. His father always shouted at him if he asked to go play tag with the other children, the resident of Solitude expected Loy to be some sort of hired thug, like his father. Unlike his father, Loy didn't enjoy 'teaching people lessons'. Even if there was a lot of gold involved.

Meanwhile, Alese was attempting to look nicer than usual. Whiterun was full of new people, possible employers, maybe even people who knew her parents…No; she was getting ahead of herself. Her parents were long gone, but even so, Alese knew she was going to try and find them. She quickly combed the knots out of her hair, and plaited a few sections of hair. Unfortunately, she couldn't change her still childish looking face. Even though her body had filled out well, she was stuck with a baby face. Although; she looked good in scaled armor. Meeko whined as she tied rope around his neck, they both agreed that they couldn't sell her, or leave her behind. So they decided to take her.

Alese stepped outside, holding her knapsack, bow and Meeko's homemade leash. They both stared at each other for a moment, both not knowing what would lie ahead. Limping over to Shadow, Loy gave her a boost up. A quick flick of the reins and Shadow trotted slowly, with Loy and Meeko not far behind.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hope you like this chapter, reviews wanted c: Tell me if I should maybe make this M Rated, or not go there c: Thanks!**_

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By the time they reached Whiterun it was dark, and pretty chilly. Alese's armor didn't exactly offer much protection from the cold. Approaching a few farmhouses, she was taken aback by the size of the city; she'd never seen anything like it. Loy grabbed Shadows reins and led her towards the stables, there was a nord man slumped on a chair next to where the horses slept.

"Here, let me help you down" Loy held his hand out in front of her; she took it gratefully and jumped down from Shadow. Her thigh stung like crazy, she would need to change the dressing soon.

Loy gazed at Alese as she basically jogged up to the gate; this was all so new to her. She'd only ever lived in the middle of nowhere; a city must be a huge change. One of the guards unlocked the door for them, Loy pushed it open and Alese slid through. They were both greeted by a warm and friendly atmosphere, a middle aged Imperial woman was still at her forge, and a few of the cities resident were still strolling around. Alese could feel her heart jump at the sight of such a great city.

"We should find somewhere to stay for the night" Loy didn't looked impressed, probably because he'd lived in Solitude most of his life. Things were grander there.

They both walked towards the empty marketplace and spotted an inn, The Bannered Mare.

As they opened the doors to the inn, they were greeted by a huge fire in the center of the room, and a young bard playing his lute. He was also singing 'The Age Of Aggression', Alese turned her nose up at this. Trudging over to the seats by the fire, they both sat down. A young redguard woman, Saadia, hurried over to where they were sitting.

"Can I get you anything?"

"I'll take two baked potatoes, grilled leeks, and an apple pie please" Alese could almost hear the exhortation in his voice.

"That'll be 19 gold" Alese rummaged around in her coin purse, and produced some money. Saadia took the money and went to the kitchen, a few minutes later she returned with two plates. Taking the plates, Loy passed one to Alese, everything looked delicious. She'd never tasted apple pie before, she had a whole half. Taking a chunk off with her fork, she popped in her mouth. The sweet tastes of apples mixed with the sugary pastry.

"I could get used to this" She said, already finished. Loy laughed at her, and patted her head.

"I'll go get us a room while you rest?" Loy nodded at her, so she walked over to the counter.

"I'd like to rent a room, 10 gold right?" She began counting septims on the counter.

"Aye" Said the nord woman standing in front of her. Once that was done, she gestured for Loy to follow her to their room. The stairs were noisy when they were walking, but no one really seemed to mind. The room was average size, a few shelves, a dresser, and a wash basin. Nothing too spectacular. There was a double bed, so Loy started to get his bedroll out.

"There's enough room for both of us, Loy" She didn't mean it in a sexual way, but it would be nice…Oh fuck, why did she let herself think that?

"Oh thank god, I can't bear another night in a bedroll." He gave her a tight hug, which made her heart melt.

Her stomach was full, her eyes were drooping and she still had to change into something more comfortable. So did Loy, his boots were rubbing against his feet, creating sores and blisters everywhere.

"Hey, do you mind turning around so I can change into my nightclothes?" He obeyed, spun around and closed his eyes. She had taken breastplate off, and she'd set it down on the dresser. Alese was struggling with the ties on her gauntlets, so eventually she decided to drag them off. Bad idea, the gauntlets twisted her wrist she yelped in pain. Her wrist was in some sort of deformed shape, and the gauntlet wouldn't move. The pain was unbearable; shooting pains came from her wrist and travelled right up her arm. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to speak.

"Loy, could you give me a hand?" He started to turn around when she shouted.

"No! Wait, pass me that shawl." He obediently grabbed the shawl which was hanging out of her knapsack, and handed it to her, eyes still closed tightly. She wrapped the shawl around her naked body with her free hand and kept it on with her arm.

"Okay, I've hurt my wrist while trying to get this damn gauntlet off" Her cheeks flashed crimson red. Opening his eyes, he saw Alese standing in front of him, her shawl barely covering her thighs. Her one good arm was wrapped tightly around her chest, which Loy didn't like. His breathing was heavier; his instincts were telling him to do something, anything. However, deep inside he knew he couldn't just force himself on her. He looked again; brunette hair tumbling down past her shoulders, her pale skin looked wonderful in the candlelight…he had an overwhelming urge to kiss her…

"Earth to Loy! I need help" She raised her voice a little.

"You're really beautiful, Alese" Her gave her an adoring look and carefully untied the gauntlets. Alese's heart was fluttering, like thousands of butterflies had just invaded her body. What was this feeling? She'd never felt like this before…For a while, they stared at each other. Both wondering what will happen. Loy's heart ached as he looked at her gorgeous face. He leaned towards her, their noses were basically touching. Placing his huge hands on her rosy cheek, he pressed his lips against her. Of course, he could tell she was inexperienced, but he didn't care. Their worlds stopped as they shared those few moments together. Pulling away, Alese looked shocked, she turned away.

"Don't look." A single tear dripped onto the floor as she spoke.


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, I know my story is getting a little boring, but whatever. Also, I may be posting less chapters, or smaller chapters for the next week or two. I start school again soon, so I'll need to focus on that more. Thanks, bye. Post a review if you have any tips or questions!**

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That night Loy lay awake for hours, wondering about what just happened. He thought he was an okay kisser, was it the kiss? Or did she not want it in the first place? No, that couldn't be it. She had kissed him back. Maybe she changed her mind half way through? Ugh, he was tired of thinking about the possibilities, he turned away from her and closed his eyes; hoping for sleep.

Thanks to her routine, she awoke very early; even Hulda wasn't at the counter yet. Her eyes swiveled over to Loy, who was still asleep. His red hair was wildly spread out over the pillow. Remembering the kiss last night, she exhaled deeply. She wanted it, she knew that. But for some reason it felt wrong. Maybe it was because it was her first kiss, maybe not? Blood raced to her heart, it started violently beating. Shaking her head, she reluctantly got out of bed and trudged towards the mirror. She looked like shit. Complete shit. She'd forgotten her comb, so she gingerly ran her fingers through her greasy hair.

Getting dressed, she opened the book she had brought with her. She'd read it before, so it was a bit boring. Even so, it passed an hour or so. As soon as she heard Hulda trod down the stairs she started to move towards the door. Surprisingly the fire was still going, orange flames flickering everywhere.

"You're up early" Hulda exclaimed.

"I'm used to it, some bread and a chicken breast please." Handing Hulda some gold, she ripped a few chunks of bread off and placed them on top of the chicken breast. She wasn't exactly hungry, but even so she ate some bread and took a bite out of the chicken.

The air was fresh, but cold. She realized that the city was very, how you say it, nord. Not the people, just the architecture. It seemed like everyone farmed, or worked hard labor in some way. The good old way of living; which she liked. Since the market place was literally just outside of the inn, she decided she might as well have a look around. Maybe trail around the city a bit, clear her head. Skipping down the steps, she glanced around the market. Nothing much, fruits and vegetables, some crappy jewelry, and things she didn't need or want. So she walked straight past the market and up the steps. The first thing that caught her eye was the fucking random tree in front of her. It was huge, with small pink blossoms on the branches. A woman in some sort of robe was standing near it, great. This city worships a tree. That's when another man shouting caught her eye. She recognized the Shrine behind him, Talos. Hadn't the worship of Talos been forbidden? Apparently not. This nutter was basically screaming at everyone around him.

"We are but maggots! Writhing in the filth of our own corruption!..." Here we go.

"While you have ascending from the dung of mortality, and now walk among the stars!" Alese was concerned about how damaged his vocal cords would be in a year's time.

"Shut the fuck up" She muttered under her breath. Even though she had nothing against the worship of Talos, that guy was going to annoy the shit out of her.

"Watch your tongue there, someone might hear you." Spinning around so fast she almost lost her balance, a tall nord man stood in her view, his hair was shortish, and he was covered in dirt. A slightly larger man stood not far behind him. The nord gave Alese a mischievous smile. She noticed the smaller man was wearing wolf armor, and the other, some sort of steel?

"You're new here? I can tell, you get used to Heimskr when you've been here a while" His accent was very strong.

"I doubt I ever will" Compared to him, she was tiny. If he tried, he could pick her up with one hand. He gave a hearty laugh.

"I'm Vilkas, and this is my brother, Farkas. He's not very bright" Alese thought what he said about his brother was quite mean, but she agreed that Farkas did look very stupid. Vilkas held out his hand.

"Alese" She gave his hand a light shake.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing here? Eh?" She could feel herself blushing.

"I'm here with a…friend" She struggled to say that, didn't kissing mean that they were together?

"See that upturned boat over there?" Glancing right, she nodded.

"That's where I live, I'm a companion." Alese had read of the companions, it was an honorable role, known throughout Skyrim. She never thought she meet one of them by chance.

"You're a companion?" she asked.

"Aye, you should come see us some time, join up" He sounded hopeful.

"No, it's not my thing" This was true.

"Oh…come up for some mead then? Farkas was just heading out for business…Weren't you Farkas…" Vilkas shot him a 'go away' look. He mumbled something a trailed away with his head down.

"Shall we?" He smiled at her and held out his hand. She completely ignored the gesture and walked towards the up turned boat.

Stepping inside was fairly unpleasant to say the least. Multiple head snapped around and she felt a dozen eyes on her.

"Vilkas, who the hell is this?" A woman wearing very little armor with war paint on her face ran towards them. Alese had to hold in her laugh. To her, the war paint looked like someone had just slapped her across the face.

"Aela, she's a friend of mine. I invited her for mead." He was defensive. Aela backed off a bit.

"She's not companion material" Aela looked her up and down. With a disgusted face, she turned back to Vilkas.

"I didn't say she was joining." At that moment, she noticed that she was basically hiding behind Vilkas.

"Good, she's too feeble to be given such honor" She sniggered at Alese. She tried not to say something back; she didn't want to be hated by the most honored people in Skyrim.

"That's enough Aela" Vilkas shooed her away to the table. He turned and faced her.

"Let's go to my room, quieter." Alese wondered if he was going to try anything. She had her dagger, which was in easy reach. Surely he wouldn't, he was a respectable man. He wouldn't force himself on a young woman…at least she hoped he wouldn't.

They walked down the steps, and finally reached his room. It was small, but well kept. She spotted a few Chaurus eggs and some Ice Wraith teeth. Did he make potions? He didn't seem like the Alchemy type. She also spotted a fuck load of mead, and her thoughts of him being an Alchemist vanished.

He handed her a bottle, she took the cork off and sipped at it. It tasted fruity at first, and then she tasted Vanilla, with a hint of spice. Normally, she hated mead. This time, she really enjoyed it. After one bottle, she began to feel tipsy. She wasn't used to drinking, she thought she best not have anymore. So head cleaned a tankard and filled it with water instead.

"Thank you" Alese said gratefully.

"It's okay" Vilkas was starting to slur his words. For the next hour or so they talked endlessly, she asked him about his life before the companions, he surprised her by saying he didn't have one. Alese was careful while talking about her past, she didn't want to started crying like the pathetic little girl she really was.

She surprisingly had a great time with Vilkas, he was friendly, and had great taste in mead. When she noticed that Vilkas was drunk, she decided it was time to leave. Just in case he tried anything while being in that state. Walking back up the stairs to the hall, a young Imperial girl stopped her. She looked about Alese's age, but she had a suspicious look on her face.

"What were you doing with Vilkas?" She squinted her eyes at her.

"We were just talking" To avoid causing any arguments Alese barged past the Imperial and rushed over to the door.


	10. Chapter 10

**I thought I'd post a second chapter tonight, since I'm almost at 400 views, wow c: **

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When she stepped out of the door she was greeted with the far away sound of Heimskr shouting his Stormcloak views. Jogging down the steps, she didn't even notice Loy standing waiting for her.

"Why were you in there?" He sounded pretty agitated.

"I was talking to Vilkas" Deep down, her heart was aching for Loy to hug her, or something. She didn't like how attached she was getting, but she couldn't control how she felt anymore.

"Who the hell is he?" Loy was angry; he tried to calm himself down before he waltzed out of the inn, to search for Alese. Danica had told him where she was, he was searching frantically for Alese when Danica appeared in her robes and asked if she could help at all.

"He asked if I'd want to grab a drink, so I did." Not the best choice of words, but there was no going back now.

"He could have been anyone, he could have hurt you. Did he try anything? Suggest anything?..." Alese gave him a small hug, to show that she was sorry for leaving.

"I won't do it again" She said, still hugging him. She felt cared for, no one had really been that concerned for her other than her parents. It really made her feel wanted again, not just some kid who was abandoned by her parents. Loy and Alese spent the rest of their day together, looking around, talking to new people. Loy seemed to be getting too friendly with Danica, so Alese distracted herself by talking to a redguard man.

"Do you get to the cloud district very often? Oh what am I saying, of course you don't" Her said in a slightly annoying voice.

"What's the cloud district?" She was confused, did he mean the sky or?

"The Jarls Palace, do you live under a rock?" He sniggered at her and walked away triumphantly. What was his problem?

"Ignore my husband, he's very vain." Another redguard woman patted her shoulder then sighed. She then continued to trail after him.

It was dark by the time they'd finished supper. Loy had done a little errand for the local blacksmith, Adrianne. It was just taking a greatsword to the 'Cloud District', but at least he got paid. Renting the same room, they jogged up the stairs and Alese jumped on the bed and lay there for a moment. She thought about her day. The self-absorbed bitch, Aela. Danica, who she was jealous of. The complete dickhead, Nazeem…Whiterun was a great city; it was just the resident that let it down. Apart from Vilkas, he was…nice.

Settling down in bed, she turned towards Loy. He was lying on his side, gazing at her.

"What?" She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Have you always been this amazing" The butterflies were back.

"Yes, of course" She said sarcastically. He stretched his arm over the pillow and waited for her to lie down. When she did, she felt an overwhelming urge of safety and something else, but she didn't know what…Within a few minutes, she fell fast asleep in his strong arms.

This time, Loy was woken up by a loud noise coming from the other side of the room. He shot out of bed to see what it was. Meeko had knocked a stack of Alese's books over. He slowly started to stack them back up, reading the titles of each of them:

The Cabin in the Woods, Nightingales: Fact or Fiction, The Exodus, The Lusty Argonian Maid Vol 1…wait, what? Sudden possibilities crossed his mind, his breathing became heavy, and his cheeks flushed. The thoughts soon vanished from his head when he picked up the next book. No title, old and tattered with crumpled pages. It was her journal. For a few moments he paused, staring at it.

"You can read it, I want you to know" Alese yawned, and slowly sat up in bed.

"Are you sure?" He wanted to read it so bad, but he would respect her privacy if she didn't want him to. She nodded.

"I don't want to be here when you read it, I'm going to eat." She was already in her clothes, so she walked out of the room.

"Most of it is boring; I recommend the first few entries…" Her voice had become bitter.

Loy sat crossed legged on the cold wood floorboards; he opened the tattered journal and started reading.


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is just a kind of, filler. It's boring, just explains a bit of Alese's past. In the next chapter I'll probably go into Loy's, or I might do that later on. Reviews welcome!**

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_Dear Journal, _

_Mother and Father have been very ill lately. They're getting fatigued very easily. They have been like this ever since they have gotten back from their weekly Ingredients trip. They said they must have caught something from a cave they ventured into. Meeko cowers away from them when they try to pat him. I've been researching what illness they could have caught. Nothing so far, I'm sure they'll get better soon._

_Dear Journal, _

_Mother and Father have gotten worse, their skin is as pale as snow, they're temperature is down low. I've been giving them health potions every hour, beef stew, fresh fruits and vegetables. They murmur things in their sleep too. Sometimes when they sleep, they shout and panic. I'm scared, I hope they'll get better soon._

_Dear Journal, _

_Mother and Father won't wake up, they're alive, and they both have a pulse. They just won't move, or wake up. Maybe it's their way of getting better. I don't know anymore._

_Dear Journal, _

_They're awake, as soon as it got dark. They went out, said they'd be back soon and they were. Except a lot of people, I don't know who they were. They're throwing rocks at our windows and shouting vulgar comments about mother and father. They had torches and were threatening to set our house alight. Mother has told me to hide in the cellar._

_I must have fell asleep, its morning now and my parents are gone. I tried looking in the woods, I looked near the lake. I hope they'll be back soon; I'm scared in case those people come back._

Loy had an idea of what disease they had. He flicked through the future pages; he understood that her parents never came back. He had no idea how she felt, he'd always had at least one parent in his life, and he had two until his father ripped his mother to pieces. He wondered if she knew what they had become, he had a pretty good idea. Walking down the stairs, he saw her sitting by the fire eating her breakfast; well she wasn't really eating, more like nibbling on the crusts of the bread. He crept up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay Alese" She stood up; he noticed she'd been crying. They hugged for a few moments, for the first time since her parents left. She felt safe, and she was developing some very strong feelings towards him.


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter gets a bit...adult. It doesn't go too far I promise. Reviews please!**

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Loy had gotten a job at Pelagia Farm, just outside of Whiterun. It was hard work, harvesting cabbages, potatoes and other extremely boring vegetables. Within an hour of working there, he was covered in dirt. Nimriel was very impressed with the effort Loy put into farming.

Meanwhile, Alese was inspecting the many things for sale in Arcadia's Cauldron. It was mostly common ingredients; Alese knew she couldn't buy anything. She had hardly any gold left, and she had no idea where she could find an alchemy table. Sighing, she left the shop. Stepping outside, she breathed in deeply. The day was hot, but not as hot as it was back in Falkreath.

Vilkas, who was currently leaning against one of the wooden beams, glanced at Alese. He had taken a long walk, to try and get away from Aela and his ice-brain brother, Farkas. Even though he'd grown up in the mead hall, it was always nice to get away from everything. He suddenly stopped slouching on the wooden beam and jogged over to her, his armor making a lot of noise.

"Alese! How are you?" He had a huge gleaming smile on his face.

"I'm good, really good" Even though her face looked quite glum. Vilkas decided to ignore it.

"Do you want to take a walk?" He hopefully said. Since Alese had nothing better to do, she accepted his offer.

As they were walking away from the market, Nazeem passed by them and sniggered at them both.

"That man really makes my blood boil" Vilkas said, with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Yeah, he's very self-absorbed" Her head was down; she was basically dragging her feet along the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" He was trying his best to sound caring, but his voice was too harsh.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong." A frown crossed her forehead.

"Okay…fancy a drink to take your mind off whatever is bothering you" Vilkas put his hand on her shoulder.

"Is that all you fucking do? Drink mead?" She shot him a look which surprised him. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. For the first time, Vilkas was quiet. He was quite hurt, he liked her. Had he done something to upset her? Maybe someone said something to her when she was leaving the other night?

"Actually, I drink ale too." He turned away from her and stomped off.

Loy had one hour of work left, his hands were sore from weeding and pulling the crops from the tough soil. He was full of sweat and dirt. He knew that he couldn't go see Alese like this; she always looked so beautiful and…clean. Eventually, he decided to have a walk up the stream near the farm. He didn't walk far, but eventually he found a spot which was quite secluded. He took his tunic off, and his shoes. He then sat in the stream, cupping water in his hands; he splashed his face. It was quite refreshing after a long day of hard labor. After scrubbing his skin with his own hands, he put his tunic on again, even though his skin was still soaking wet.

Alese was sitting by the fire in the inn; Loy would be getting back soon, so she'd combed her hair and washed her face. Recently, she had tried to impress him more and more. Every time she saw him smile her whole world lit up. For the first time in her life, she felt something different. It was more than just affection, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was…

"I'm back" Loy came running over to her, his hair was a bit damp, and his tunic was filthy. Surprisingly, the rest of him was clean as a whistle.

"Finally" She jumped up and ran into his arms. He made her feel so safe when they touched. He tucked some of her hair behind her little ear and kissed her forehead. As usual, she blushed and looked down.

"Hey you, show me that beautiful face" These words made her heart skip multiple beats; she had an overwhelming urge to kiss him again. There wasn't much stopping her anymore, he knew everything about her now. Standing on her tip toes, she gave him a small peck on the lips. Even touching his lips made the butterflies go crazy in her stomach.

Loy was not expecting that. So, she did like him? His heart was almost pounding out of his chest, he'd never felt like this. He knew what he was feeling, he didn't know if she did though. It was love, and he was fucking sure of it.

They retired to their room, for a long time they lay there. Loy wrapped his hand around her waist and kissed her again, more passionately this time. Alese kissed back, her hands were holding onto his neck tightly. Loy pressed down on her, he wanted her so badly. He pulled away from the kiss and began to plant smaller kisses down her neck and chest. Alese was breathing heavily now, digging her nails into his back, pulling him closer. She could feel something warm between her legs...Their hands were wandering each other's bodies, Loy started to undress Alese carefully. The wound on her leg had not yet healed properly; he'd have to be careful.

"Will it hurt?" Her voice was small, Loy barely heard it.

"Yes, I think so…We can stop if you want to?" He stopped moving his hand, and looked into her eyes. She had never wanted someone so bad, all she could think about was him inside of her...She shook her head and passionately kissed him again…


	13. Chapter 13

**I may have written this chapter too fast? I don't know. Enjoy. Reviews and favourites welcome!**

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Unusually, Alese awoke late. It was almost noon; she noticed that she was still completely naked. Then she remembered last night. How much it had hurt, how gentle he had been…She'd given him something special, something she could never get back. Deep inside, she knew that he was worth it. Her attention was then drawn to the very loud footsteps coming up the stairs. Loy appeared carrying a wooden tray.

"Breakfast time" He looked cuter than ever, his cheeks were flustered and his hair was ruffled like a little kids.

"Saadia let me make it myself" He placed it down on the empty space next to her, and then stood up. She could tell he was proud of it.

"Thank you" It was beef stew, bread and for dessert, a sweetroll. She wolfed down the stew, taking short pauses to dip the bread into it. She felt bad for not offering Loy some, but he said he had already eaten.

"That was delicious" She dapped her mouth with a napkin. Standing up, she completely forgot that she was naked. Her cheeks flushed red.

"I saw it all last night" She couldn't help but giggle at this. She had nothing planned, and Loy had to go to work at the farm. Perhaps she'd look for work, although most of the work around here was hard labor. She wasn't exactly strong. Kissing Loy goodbye, he held her for a while. Wondering if he should say how he really felt…No, this wasn't the right time.

Vilkas had only just woken up, his head was throbbing. All he could think about was Alese, had he done something wrong? Maybe he should try and find her, apologize? After all, he was a companion, she couldn't exactly refuse him. He decided to go to the inn; he knew she was staying there. Opening the door, he was greeted by a tall red headed young man. He had a huge grin on his face; he stopped by the door to take a few bites of a piece of bread. Just then, Vilkas spotted Alese talking to Hulda by the counter, as soon as she saw Vilkas, she froze.

"Alese! I'm so sorry if I upset you" Vilkas barged past the red haired man and ran over to Alese, then tried to hug her. The red haired man glanced back at them; Alese could see the hurt in his eyes. He slammed the door when he left.

"Go away, I don't want to see you" Vilkas looked down at his boots, he shot her a look. He left soon after.

Why the hell did he come to see her? She didn't even know Vilkas, she regretted ever going to Jorrvaskr. Now, Loy was probably mad at her. He had a good reason to be, after all, he had no idea what she got up to when he was working. She knew he'd think the worst. She couldn't help but run after Loy, he was already out of the city gates. Running after him, Nazeem shouted vulgar comments about the way she looked. Ignoring him, she opened the gates and spotted Loy not too far ahead.

"Loy! Wait!" He stopped for a split second, and then continued walking. Finally, she caught up to him.

"What's wrong with you?" She was out of breath and her thigh was throbbing.

"So, how far did you go with him?" This confused her for a moment.

"You really think I'm like that?" He voice was hoarse.

"I don't know, you slept with me. You barely know me? So, what's stopping you from doing anything with him?" He was angry, really angry. His blood was pumping, he could feel his face going red.

"You're overreacting, you're just jealous-"

"I'm not fucking jealous! If you want to go fuck some mead addicted companion, go ahead! I hope your dead parents are proud of you" He turned around and stormed off, kicking stones and clenching his fists.

Loy was so angry, and even worse, she was right. He WAS jealous. This was her fault; she shouldn't have gone to Jorrvaskr in the first place. For some weird reason he wanted to make her feel all the pain he was feeling. He loved her, but how could she do this to him…? He couldn't go to work like this, he turned back to Whiterun. If she was going to do this to him, he wanted her to know how it felt. He jogged to where the Gildergreen tree was, Danica was sitting on one of the benches…

"Hey, got anything planned?" Loy said...


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay guys. I know this isn't as late as I usually post chapters, but I've been busy with school work :c Please don't kill me!**

**Reviews welcome!**

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Late at night, Loy finally returned. He stomped to the room and put his bed roll down on the floor. He knew that he should let Alese explain, but he was too annoyed.

"Where have you been?" Alese eyes were red, and her face was blotchy. His heart ached, he wanted to hold he close and tell her everything would be okay.

"I was with Danica" His head was ruffled again. Her lip started to quiver, and tears stung her eyes.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she stood in front of him. Tears were now spilling down her cheeks. She pushed him out of the way and stormed out of the room. Seconds later he heard the door slam. Shit, what had he done…?

Alese was running. She didn't even know which way she was going. Her face was soaking wet with tears, running up the stairs, she tripped and head her head off the stone steps. Something warm dribbled down her forehead, she lifted her hand up, and it came back bloody. Attempting to get up, she felt a strong hand on her shoulders. Turning her head, a familiar face was standing over her.

"Vilkas?" she couldn't focus properly.

"Uh..no, Farkas…hi" Just then, he picked her up and carried her to Jorrvaskr. He was rough with her, not gentle and kind like Loy was…well, used to be. She was able to focus more when she got inside. Farkas basically dropped her on the floor; he then helped her up while apologizing. He then mumbled something about the blood dripping into her eyes.

"VILKAS!" Farkas' voiced bellowed throughout the hall, it made her skull sing with pain. She clenched her teeth.

"What, ice-brain?" Vilkas appeared out of nowhere, rubbing his eyes.

"Um, your girlfriend is here…I mean your girl…friend" He nodded towards the girl. Vilkas had a look of pure confusion on his face, and then he saw Alese cowering behind Farkas. Farkas was standing triumphantly in front of his brother.

"What?" He didn't look at her.

"She's hurt her head" Farkas grabbed her by the shoulders, and pushed her forward, a little too hard. She tumbled to the ground. Farkas' mouth dropped open, he mumbled and tried to pick her up again.

"Leave her be Farkas, you'll hurt her again" Vilkas rushed over to Alese and carefully helped her up. Farkas gave Vilkas a look which reminded Alese of when her mother told her to do her chores. 'Ice-brain' folded his arms and stomped off.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Vilkas wiped her tears away with his huge hand. He grabbed some cloth and carefully wiped the blood away. For a while she lay in his strong arms and cried, her head hurt like hell, and Loy wouldn't believe her. Eventually she fell asleep.

Vilkas sat with her for hours, running his fingers through her hair, trying to clean the blood up. Maybe she'd had an argument with her friend? When he heard movement, he decided he should put her to bed.

She awoke a few hours earlier in his room; a smell of ale and mead filled her nostrils. Vilkas was reading something. Dragging his finger over each line of the page, maybe he couldn't read very well? She stared at him for a while, he finally noticed her.

"You're awake" He said gruffly. He stretched his arms and yawned.

"Uh, I know" Well this is awkward.

"I'm really sorry-" She started to apologize.

"How's your head?" He was still looking down at his book. Alese's fingers traced the wound on her skull, a small cut, but very swollen.

"It's okay" He looked up at her and smiled.

"So what upset you last night? Was it me?" This question made her eyes fill with tears, how could Loy even think that she would do something with Vilkas? He was far too old for her, and he was pretty much an alcoholic.

"I had an argument with Loy…" Alese told him everything, blurted out every detail. Eventually Vilkas caught on that Loy was more than a friend so he got a bit angry, but tried not to show it.

"He doesn't deserve you, you're far too good for him" Vilkas had a plan forming in his head. Maybe Alese would like him now? Or maybe start to? They both stayed silent.

"I'll go get you some breakfast, what do you want?" He stood up, and cast a huge shadow over the entire room.

"Anything but mead" They both laughed and Vilkas left the room.

A few minutes later he returned with a sweetroll and some freshly baked bread. She nibbled the bread, and only licked the icing off the sweetroll. Vilkas knew why she was so skinny and small. While she ate, Vilkas told her some stories about his adventures, raiding bandit camps, killing wild bears and even delving into nordic ruins, she listened for hours. Alese wished for the life of an adventurer, but she'd probably die within the first day.


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, so here's the very last chapter. First of all, thank you to everyone who supported me. Especially Barenziah The Luminous, you should go read her fan fiction. I honestly did not think I'd get this much of a response on my first story. **

**Next time, I may do a completely different story (different race, plot ect) I wont be uploading anything straight away, but it will be before 2014. **

**I hope you enjoy this, see ya!**

* * *

While Vilkas was blabbering on, she thought of Loy again. He hadn't given her a chance to explain, she couldn't believe he thought she'd do that, perhaps she didn't know him at all. Her eyes began to fill with tears again; Vilkas noticed this and shut up. He slowly approached her and hugged her, he wanted her to be his, and he was a companion, so she should want him too. They hugged for a few minutes; Alese stopped crying and hugged him tightly. Vilkas grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. A sudden rush of adrenalin sent Vilkas onto Alese, he forced his lips against hers. She didn't kiss him back, she just couldn't. She put all her strength into pushing him off, he resisted for a while then gave up on her. She was frozen and scared.

"What now?" Vilkas basically shouted at her. Alese look bewildered.

"I can't…I…"

"You what? C'mon! I'm a companion Alese, Loy doesn't fucking deserve you. I could give you so much more." His hands were crushing her shoulder blades.

"I love him, get the fuck off me" Her voiced had raised. She twisted her arm in an awkward way and dug her nails into his arms. He pushed her away violently; she knocked her head off the wall. Vilkas charged out of the room, she heard shouting a few moments after. She sat still on the bed, hardly making a sound. Loud footsteps approached her room. Farkas blundered in.

"You should go, I'll let you out, Aela's pissed" His head was down. As soon as she jogged up the stairs, Aela glared at her, her face was almost purple with rage.

"Get her out of here, she's a pain in the ass" She said.

"Woah, calm the fuck down, Aela. This wasn't her fault, you know Vilkas can be a bit forward…" Farkas was attempting to back Alese up, but Aela just spat at the floor in front of Alese and turned away. Farkas grabbed her arm roughly and dragged her to the door; she could still hear the shouting when she was outside.

"Listen uh…we're like family, we care about each other, people who try to get involved usually don't get a warm welcome from Aela…" He ruffled her hair, she was crying. Then he patted her nose.

"Where's Vilkas gone?" She shuffled her feet about.

"He stormed out of the hall before, I like you Alese, but this is a tightknit family, you should try and keep out" He was trying to be nice, but Farkas was never good with words.

"Go find Loy, be with him" That was the first good thing Farkas had said to her, she thought.

She nodded and obediently ran toward the inn; she passed Danica on the way there. She barged past her and cursed at her. The inn had a few people sitting by the fire; she ran upstairs and called out for Loy. No answer. She called out again, no answer.

"Hulda!" Alese basically screamed down the stairs.

"Yes, dear!" She answered instantly.

"Where the hell is Loy?" Hulda noticed the tears running down her cheeks. She rushed up the stairs and sat on the bed with her, she explained how Loy had left last night about an hour after she had run out…Alese felt her whole world collapsing on her shoulders. Hulda hugged her then she had to get back to work.

Alese lay on the bed and cried, she cried until her chest hurt. Her cheeks were soaking wet and so was her pillow. Her worlds has spinning out of control, Loy had left. It was all her fault, she should have stopped him. Or did she just drive him away? It felt as though her heart had been crushed into little pieces. He could be anywhere, she could never find him now…

For the next few days, Alese slept and cried. Saadia occasionally brought her food, which she hardly touched. Nothing was the same anymore, she missed him like hell. On the fourth day, Saadia convinced her to accompany her to the market. A young man covered in dirt jogged up to her.

"I've been looking for you, got something I'm supposed to deliver, to your hands only" He handed her over an envelope, 'Alese' was written in beautiful swirly writing. She didn't want Saadia poking her nose into everything. So she walked back to the inn and sat down on the bed. Her fingers fumbled with the envelope, she gently ripped it open, maybe it was from Loy.

_Dear my darling Alese,_

_We have decided you're now old enough to know the truth. When you were fifteen, we had to leave you alone. We are both dearly sorry for that. When we were collecting ingredients, we encountered some women in a cave, they were very hostile. We both knew what they were immediately. Remember the tales I told you before you went to sleep, the tales of vampires? We contracted Sanguinare Vampirisis. We knew we could not stay in Falkreath, the townsfolk wanted our heads. When you were asleep, we fled to Morthal, we had heard of a Wizard there who could cure us both, the process was excruciating. We couldn't come back to Falkreath, we knew the townsfolk would still hate us and want us dead. We travelled to Windhelm, and we have resided there ever since. We hope one day you will come seek for your long lost family. Your father fights for the Stormcloaks alongside Ulfric, and I work at a market stall in my spare time._

_We love you so much, Alese._

_Love your dearest mother and father._

Her lungs felt like they had collapsed, she didn't know what was worse. Her parents had been Vampires, or that she hadn't even bothered to look for them in their hometown.

The next day, Alese packed her things and headed to the stables. The carriage was waiting there, as usual. She approached him slowly.

"Where do you want to go?" A cheery smile greeted her.

"Windhelm, please" She handed over a bag of gold; it was all she had left. He nodded for her to get onto the carriage, her feet made the wood creak as she hopped on. She heard a sharp crack; the carriage rumbled and started to move. Just as she had gotten a book out to read, she heard a voice.

"Hold on, wait!" It was a man's voice, she ignored it.

That was until a tall red haired man with ruffled hair hopped onto the carriage.


End file.
